Alex stared at the message. Physical access. To what? The server in room 4C-11. The decommissioned box.

Another packet. level=1;user=guest;move=W . Then a new field: status=dead . Then, after a three-second pause: level=1;user=guest;respawn=Y . Then move=N again.

Alex tried to stop. Closed Wireshark. Killed the Python script. Pulled the Ethernet cable. The packets kept coming. Over Wi-Fi. Over Bluetooth. Over the building’s powerline Ethernet adapters. They appeared on Alex’s phone screen, pushed as phantom notifications: level=7;user=alex;move=?;last_action=panic;

level=1;user=alex;move=E.